


Black Coffee and Dead People

by betsib



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Faily disturbing descriptions of murder, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 09:22:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1545755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsib/pseuds/betsib
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A serial-killer is terrorizing the city, and detective Jason Grace is doing his best to catch him. He doesn't have much to go on, and the coroner seems to be hiding something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Putting this up due to popular demand. I apologize in advance for the inaccuracies in the fic, as my understanding of legal procedure and stuff like that are on level with a bad tv-show at best. In any case, enjoy!

Jason admitted he was nervous about the transfer. He’d been working at the San Francisco Police department ever since he finished the academy, and he had been happy there, but on the other hand, it would be nice to finally get out of his father’s shadow.

His new Chief of Police was a tall middle aged man called Mr. Dionis, who looked at him with severe disinterest even as he welcomed him to the station.

“Well, I don’t suppose you’ll find any difficulty fitting in here, Mr. Grains,” he said, sounding bored. “Your superior, Perry Johnson will show you around. Turn to him for any questions. Dismissed. Get to work.”

“Yes, sir,” Jason said. “And, uh, It’s Grace, sir.”

The chief waved dismissively, and Jason exited his office. A young dark haired man with green eyes were waiting outside.

“You must be the new guy,” he smiled as he saw Jason. “Mr. D said I should show you around.”

“Jason Grace,” Jason introduced himself. “You must be Perry Johnson.”

The man made a face. “Percy Jackson,” he corrected. “Mr. D never gets any names right. You’ll get used to it. ”

Jason followed Percy around the station as he tried to remember where everything was. Percy seemed like a pretty laid back and friendly guy, and Jason was slowly starting to feel better about being there.

“So this is your desk,” Percy finally said, staying in a room that was bare except for a desk, chair and bookshelf. “There isn’t much happening right now, but I’ll get you a file to put you up to speed...”

“Percy!” A pretty blond woman suddenly opened the door, looking slightly stressed. “Double homicide. Very disturbing. You’re going to want to get out there.”

“Right,” Percy said, then turned to Jason. “You’ve worked homicide before, right? Ready for a field trip?”

Jason really hadn’t expected a homicide on his first day, but on the other hand jumping right into it was probably for the best. He had been catching murderers for a few years already, after all. This wouldn’t be anything he hadn’t seen before.

When he walked through the door of the suburban house he realized he had been wrong. He definitely hadn’t seen anything like this before. 

“Oh, god,” the blond woman, Annabeth Chase said beside him. She was covering her mouth with her hand. Percy also looked a bit green. Jason could relate to that.

Two bodies were hanging from the ceiling with hooks in their arms and shoulders, to give the illusion that they were standing. The man was standing slightly in front of the female, but his head was turned unnaturally far so he seemed to be looking at her. Their eyes had been gouged out, and both were naked.

“Well, you know how this is done, people!” Percy finally said. “Get to work.”

Even hours later, when Jason got home, he still saw the bodies when he closed his eyes. They had found no trace of the killer in the house, that apparently belonged to the male victim, a local music teacher. The woman was his girlfriend, and he had reported her missing a week ago. Both had coins in their mouths, but if there was anything else to know they’d have to wait until after the autopsy to find out. Percy had been hopeful it would be done by morning.

Sighing to himself, Jason sat down by the dinner table to eat his Chinese takeout. Percy had recommended the place, and for good reason. The meal was excellent, but Jason felt like every bite he took echoed in the empty apartment. He wasn’t used to living alone. He hadn’t been alone since he was five, when his parents split up and his mother took his sister to live with her across the country. After that it had been boarding schools and flat mates, and most recently Piper, his now ex-girlfriend.

It was partly because they split up that Jason had agreed to transfer to New York. Not because he didn’t want to see her, they had broken up on friendly terms, but because everyone else had asked so many questions. They had been the perfect couple, and nobody seemed to understand why they split up, not realizing the “perfect couple”-thing was part of the problem.

Jason got up to throw the empty box away after he finished his meal, then looked around his small apartment for something to do. He wished he knew someone in the city, but all of his friends were back in San Francisco. The only people he’d met so far were his colleagues, and he couldn’t exactly call them to hang out with him. Not yet anyway. In the end he spent a boring night in front of the television, thankful when it was finally time to go to sleep.

The next morning he followed Percy to the coroner’s to get a report on the autopsy. Percy gave him a look as they walked.

“Umm, I don’t know how to say this without sounding weird, but try not to be surprised when you see the coroner, ok?” Percy said. “He’s actually really good at what he does.”

Jason nodded, wondering what he meant. Did the coroner have a visible disease or something?

As it turned out, that wasn’t the case. Probably. Not in the warts-and-scars way Jason had envisioned it, anyway. The young man standing beside the corpses had sickly pale skin and rings under his eyes so dark you’d almost think it was make up, and under the white coat he seemed thin almost to an anorexic level. Combined with the dark hair and darker eyes Jason could almost believe he was death itself, coming to claim the souls of the dead. Jason tried to shake the thought. Percy had warned him, after all.

“Good morning, Nico,” Percy greeted, and the man looked up with an irritated expression.

“There’s nothing good about morning when you’ve been up all night,” he said, then turned to look at Jason. “Who’s this?”

“Jason Grace, I just started yesterday,” Jason said, putting his hand forward. “Pleased to meet you.”

The coroner eyed his hand a moment before reluctantly shaking it. He had a strong grip for such a thin frame.

“Nico di Angelo,” he introduced himself, then turned towards Percy again. “I’ve written a full report, but I suppose you’ll want me to tell you anyway.”

“If you don’t mind,” Percy smiled. Jason was pretty sure the coroner _did_ mind, judging from his sour expression, but he walked towards the female victim, gesturing for them to follow.

“The great blood flow from the male’s eye sockets suggests he was alive when they were gouged out, while the probable cause of death is his broken neck,” Nico di Angelo said. “The female is more interesting. Her eyes were extracted post mortem, while cause of death seems to be poison. I’m still waiting for the lab results, but I’m guessing snake venom, due to the small fang marks on her left ankle.”

He pointed out the marks. They were small, two little dots about an inch away from each other. Jason could easily see how they had missed them the other day.

“Her time of death is roughly the same as the man’s, maybe a little earlier,” Nico continued. “Though after two days it’s hard to say for sure. The best I can give you is that they both died two nights ago. The display of their bodies was done post mortem, naturally.”

“Naturally,” Percy repeated, smiling to himself. “Anything else?”

“Nothing to give away the killer,” Nico said. “No skin fragments, hair or sperm. No DNA whatsoever. Although, this might be relevant.”

He picked up a small plastic bag containing some small dark stones, or something similar. Jason wasn’t sure. 

“These were found in her stomach. Actually, they were the only thing found in her stomach,” Nico said, looking uncomfortable rather than irritated. “Pomegranate seeds, dipped in lacquer to prevent quick digestion.”

“She’s been missing for a week, so the murderer must have been starving her before feeding them to her,” Jason said, eyeing the bag with a disgusted curiosity.

“Seems likely,” Percy nodded. “So, Nico, any theories?”

“That’s your job, not mine,” Nico said, putting the seeds down. Jason thought his hands were shaking slightly. “But if I were you I’d keep my eyes open. He will probably kill again.”

“Yes, I thought the same thing. Thanks, Nico. Go home and sleep,” Percy said, ignoring Nico rolling his eyes as he gestured for Jason to follow him out the door. 

“Well, what do you think?” Percy asked as they were walking back to their offices. Jason frowned.

“The killer was certainly trying to achieve something here, but I can’t figure out what,” Jason said, and Percy laughed.

“Actually I was talking about Nico. He tends to freak people out the first time,” he said.

“A little, maybe, at first,” Jason admitted. “But he does seem to know what he’s doing, even if he’s a bit disorganized.”

“He’s not usually like that. I think he was nervous today, for some reason,” Percy said, frowning. “He seemed jumpy. Maybe it’s because you’re a new face.”

His tone seemed to suggest he didn’t think so, but Jason didn’t ask. They had more important things to talk about than the coroner’s hypothetical anxiety issues, after all. Joining Annabeth, they kept investigating the case, but there weren’t much to go on. Jason thought the pomegranate seeds were the key to the whole mystery, but he couldn’t put his fingers on why they were so important.

A breakthrough came a few days later, in the form of three more bodies. Three young men, neighbors in the same apartment building, were found dead. The first, youngest one had been stabbed through the heart and was wearing clothes two sizes too big for him. The second had apparently been dragged after a car or some other vehicle before being put back in his apartment. Both had coins in their mouths, immediately making the connection to the earlier murder clear. However, it was the third one that gave it away.

“Of course,” Annabeth said, staring at the body of the young man who had apparently bled out through a bone deep cut through his heel. “It all make sense now. He’s Achilles!”

Jason nodded, suddenly getting it. “Right!” he said, trying to remember everything he learnt in history class back in high school. “That makes the other two Hector and… the guy who disguised himself as Achilles, I’ve forgotten his name. The couple from a few days back were Orpheus and his bride. I can’t remember her name either.”

“Sorry, I’m lost,” Percy said. “What are you two talking about?”

“The murderer is staging scenes from Greek mythology,” Annabeth clarified. “That gives us some insight.”

“Good work, you two,” Percy said, smiling at the both of them. “Now let’s see what else we can find out.”

Not much, as it turned out. There were still no fingerprints or DNA samples to collect, nor any other clues. Judging from the murders themselves, however, they were able determine certain things about the murderer.

“Probably well educated and physically in good shape, with access to a car as well as a place to store the bodies. Either lives alone or has a warehouse somewhere. Is either lazy or has no surgical experience, judging by the messy removal of the eyeballs in the previous victims,” Percy summarized at the end of the day. “Let’s wait and see what Nico can find out tomorrow.”

Jason had gotten deathly tired of sitting alone at home by this point, so he decided to go out for a drink, and maybe meet some new people. The problem was, he had no idea where to go. In the end he just chose a random bar within walking distance from his apartment. It wasn’t a great choice. Most of the clientele only seemed interested in getting piss drunk, not to socialize. The only person Jason talked was a woman wearing way too much make up trying to get him to take her home. Jason wondered if she was just hitting on him because she was drunk or if he should arrest her for prostitution.

He didn’t stay long before heading home again. Maybe he could ask Percy or Annabeth where he should go. He was starting to feel really lonely sitting by himself every evening, but he’d never made friends easily outside the workplace either. 

Percy called him just as he was heading for work the following morning.

“I’m caught up in a press conference. You think you could handle the morgue by yourself?”

“What about Annabeth?” Jason asked, and Percy laughed at him.

“She and officer Frank Zhang are interviewing the neighbors and families of the victims. Be happy you’re missing that one,” he said. “And don’t worry, Nico is harmless.”

Jason wasn’t too sure about that, but he turned around and drove to the morgue anyway. Nico was standing outside the building, talking to a very pretty young woman. They seemed an odd couple, her dark skin and cinnamon hair was a sharp contrast to his sickly paleness, but they were apparently close. Jason wasn’t sure whether or not he should approach, but before he could decide Nico kissed her cheek and she left, waving behind her and smiling brightly.

“Your girlfriend?” Jason asked as he walked up to Nico, who snorted.

“My sister,” he said.

“Really?” Jason said, surprised and unable to stop himself. This wasn’t an entirely appropriate conversion. 

“Not by birth. We grew up in the same house,” Nico said, and Jason was sure there was more to that story, but it wasn’t any of his business. Nico studied him with a bored expression. “I assume you’re here about the Iliad trio.”

“Yes, Percy got caught up with the press,” Jason said, following Nico inside. “So you were told about the Greek connection?”

“I guessed. It wasn’t that hard,” he said. “The heel-thing was pretty obvious.”

“Yeah, I suppose the murderer wanted us to figure it out,” Jason said. “Was there anything interesting about the bodies?”

“Nothing that could lead directly to the killer,” Nico said, walking over to the first victim. “Patroclus. He was the first to die, approximately two hours before Hector, and six hours before Achilles. The cause of death is obviously the stab wound in the chest.”

“As for Hector,” Nico said, moving on to the second victim. Jason noticed his hands were shaking slightly again. “The dragging was done post mortem. It’s barely noticeable through all the damage, but the cause of death was a similar stab wound through the heart. Achilles of course bled out through his heel. The nature of the bleeding suggests he had blood-thinning substances in his system. I also suspect he was sedated at the time, but I can’t say for sure until I hear back from the lab. They’re being slow, as usual.”

After a moment of silence he picked up three small plastic bags containing a number of seeds each. “More lacquered pomegranate seeds from their stomachs. Not much else in there, suggesting the murderer has kept them a while before killing them.”

“The pomegranate seeds are important to this guy, though I can’t figure out why,” Jason said. “Do they mean anything to you?”

Nico averted his eyes and was quiet for a while. Jason thought he wasn’t going to answer, which seemed a bit suspicious, but then Nico spoke again.

“About 25 years ago there was another killer who used them. Similar MO, recreating Greek tragedies,” he said slowly, still not looking at Jason. “The press called him Hades, because of the story about Persephone and the pomegranate seeds of the underworld.”

“I don’t remember reading about him,” Jason said. “How did you know?”

Nico shrugged nervously. “I read a lot about old serial killers in high school,” he said nervously. “They caught and executed him, but I think it would be worth looking into.”

“Definitely,” Jason agreed. “Thank you.”

Nico finally looked up at him, and grunted something in reply as Jason took leave. Percy was excited when Jason told him what Nico had said.

“I keep telling him he should have been a detective rather than a coroner,” Percy said, and Jason was a bit surprised.

“You’ve known him long?” he asked, and Percy nodded.

“I met him when I was still a kid. You would never have recognized him back then,” he said, smiling wistfully. “He was annoyingly enthusiastic about everything.”

“Really?” Jason asked in disbelief. It was hard to imagine Nico di Angelo interested in anything, let alone enthusiastic.

“Then his sister died, and he changed. I don’t know exactly what happened,” Percy said, his smile faltering. “I didn’t see him much after that, until he started working at the morgue.”

“If you old ladies have finished gossiping,” Annabeth interrupted them. “I have the statements from the families and neighbors of the victims.”

“And?” Percy asked, but Annabeth shook her head. 

“Unsurprisingly, no one has seen or heard anything, unusual. The only thing new is that we have confirmed that Achilles and Patroclus were dating.” 

“Maybe it would be more professional to use the victims actual names,” Jason suggested, and Percy shrugged, grinning at him.

“If you say so,” he said. “Now I need you to learn everything there is to know about this Hades-guy from way back. If we’re dealing with a copy cat, we might get some hints about where he’ll strike next.”

Jason spent the evening looking through articles and web pages concerning Hades. The murders were very similar to the ones they were currently investigating, even if the new killer seemed to have taken things to a whole new level. The original Orpheus and Eurydice- victims hadn’t been suspended from the ceiling for starters. Hades had terrorized New York for a year before finally getting caught red handed, entirely by chance, when he was running Sisyphus over with a boulder. Hades real name had been Hayden Dimas, and he had proudly admitted to all the murders before being sentenced to death, 25 years ago.

Jason sighed as he finally drove home, well after midnight. It was interesting to read about the old serial killer, but it didn’t bring them closer to the current killer at all. The fact that his capture had been a mere coincidence wasn’t exactly encouraging.

 

Early the following morning he was woken up by his phone ringing. Still sleepy, Jason answered.

“Another murder. You need to get here right away,” Annabeth said without apologizing for waking him up.

The body was found in a nearby park, surrounded by still burning candles. The state of the body would make it hard to identify, but Jason knew what had happened to it. He had read about it yesterday.

“Prometheus?” he asked as he walked up to Percy and Annabeth at the scene of the crime. Annabeth nodded.

“Eaten by birds. Seems likely,” she said. “But it didn’t happen here. Somebody would have noticed.”

“He most have moved the body here last night,” Percy agreed. “So we need to find out from where. Maybe if we can find out what types of birds ate him, we can find it.”

He looked over at the messy corpse. “Sometimes I’m really glad I’m not Nico. I wouldn’t want to touch that with a ten foot pole.”

Jason silently agreed. Nico didn’t seem happy the next time they saw him either.

“Well, what have you got for us?” Percy asked cheerfully, ignoring the sour look on Nico’s face.

“Yesterday’s bird food,” he said. “There are marks of handcuffs on the man’s left wrist, really hard to see in the condition he is in.”

“Handcuffs? From when he was kidnapped?” Percy asked, but Nico shook his head. He looked rather green.

“Maybe, but mostly so he wouldn’t run away when the birds started to eat him,” he said.

“He was alive?” Jason asked, suddenly feeling sick.

“And not even drugged, I think,” Nico said. “Many of the wounds are signs of struggle rather than just birds feeding. Some of the bite marks on his wrists are his own, probably trying to bite off his own hand to escape.”

“Horrible way to die,” Percy said. His skin tone was starting to resemble Nico’s.

“What about pomegranate seeds?” Jason asked, and Nico shrugged nervously.

“There might have been, but his stomach have been ripped open,” he said. “I suspect the killer’s trained these birds to be as violent as possible.”

Jason nodded. “That’s what the original Hades did, wasn’t it? I read about it last night. In his case the victim had been drugged, though.”

Nico seemed paler than usual, and his hands were shaking again. Jason suspected these murders were starting to get to him. Percy seemed worried when they drove back to the station.

“I’ve never seen him get upset about corpses before,” he said, frowning.

“To be fair, these murders are pretty gruesome,” Jason said, but Percy shook his head.

“He’s performed autopsies on people who’ve been laying underwater for a week, as well as half rotten corpses, all without blinking. He’s never been bothered by the gruesome,” Percy said. ”This is something different.”

“Maybe it’s something personal,” Jason suggested, and Percy laughed.

“Maybe we should butt out, you mean,” he said. “You’re right, we have more important things to discuss. But he’s my friend, so I’m worried.”

“Does he know he’s your friend?” Jason asked, earning a glare from his superior.

“Very funny. I certainly hope he does, after all this time,” Percy said. “Speaking of which, we should all go out for a drink to celebrate you joining the team. Friday night?”

“That’d be great.” Jason agreed, already looking forward to it. He just hoped there wouldn’t be any more murders until then.

 

Friday arrived, and Percy, Annabeth and a couple of the other officers headed to a nearby bar to have a drink.

“I invited Nico as well,” Percy said when they sat down. “I sent him like ten messages, so hopefully he’ll turn up.”

“Considering how often you see him, he really should be here,” Annabeth agreed. “But he’s not exactly the life of the party.”

“He’s not that bad,” Frank Zhang said from across the table. “He can be nice enough, sometimes.”

“And you’re not just saying that because you have a thing for his sister?” Percy smirked, and Frank blushed a deep red. Nico actually turned up a few minutes later, looking irritated. He was dressed all in black, which was a change from the white coat Jason had always seen him in, but did nothing to make him seem healthier. On the other hand he was sort of giving off a heavy metal vibe. Jason wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad.

“Most people only ask once, you know,” he told Percy in lieu of a greeting. Percy just grinned.

“You would have said no,” he shrugged. “Beer?”

Nico shook his head. “I promised to pick Hazel up from a party later.”

“Just one beer shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Jason asked, and Nico gave him an amused look.

“A cop encouraging drunk driving. That’s interesting,” he said. “I don’t have a very high tolerance for alcohol.”

“He means _no_ tolerance,” Percy said helpfully. “You should have seen him at the Christmas Party last year. It wasn’t pretty.”

“And yet you keep urging me to drink,” Nico said, rolling his eyes, and turning to head for the counter. “I’ll stick to coffee, I think.”

“So, Jason,” Annabeth said. “How are you liking New York?”

“I haven’t really had time to go sightseeing, except for the city’s best crime scenes,” Jason said. “And I keep getting lost in traffic.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Percy laughed. “Besides, driving to the crime scenes will help you figure out the geography.”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Jason said, moving slightly to the left on the couch to give Nico space to sit down. His coffee smelled better than Jason’s beer, though it seemed really, really black.

“Left any broken hearts in San Francisco?” Annabeth asked, winking at him. If he hadn’t known she and Percy were dating he might have taken it as a flirtatious gesture.

“Not that I know of. Me and my last girlfriend broke up shortly before I moved,” he said, taking another sip of beer.

“You want me to hook you up with someone?” Percy said. “Drew in the office definitely seemed interested.”

“No thanks,” Jason said. He really didn’t want any romantic attachments anytime soon. Especially not with some beautiful woman his workplace approved of. He didn’t want to become part of “the perfect couple” ever again.

“Suit yourself,” Percy shrugged. “What about you, Nico? Seeing anyone?”

“Only overworked cops and dead bodies,” Nico said drily. “And you’ll end up on my autopsy table if you ever try to hook me up with someone again.”

Frank and the other officer, Charles Beckendorf, laughed loudly across the table. Annabeth gave Jason an apologetic look.

“Long story,” she said. “Percy tries a bit too hard sometimes.”

“I don’t think I want to know, Jason said.

The conversation kept its light tone all through the night. By silent agreement nobody mentioned the murders at all. Nico didn’t say much, and Jason would probably have forgotten he was there if he hadn’t been sitting beside him. As the others started moving out sometime after midnight, he remained, finishing his third cup of coffee for the evening.

“I’m waiting for my sister to call me,” he said. “No point in going to sleep before that.”

When Percy and Annabeth left, it was only the two of them, which felt a bit awkward. After a moment of silence Jason sighed.

“I should get going as well.”

“Do you want me to give you a ride home?” Nico asked. “Getting a taxi on a Friday night tends to be near impossible.”

“Thanks, that’d be great,” Jason said, slightly surprised by the offer. “You don't drive a hearse, do you?”

Nico snorted. “Considering how small my car is, it would almost be preferable.”

He wasn’t kidding. Nico drove a tiny two-door black Corolla, so old it still had a cassette tape player. He saw Jason eyeing it in disbelief, and laughed.

“There’s a box of tapes under your seat if you want to choose something,” he said, navigating them out of the parking lot. Jason reached for the box, still in a bit of a culture shock.

“You do know CDs are a thing, right? Or iPods?” he said, eyeing the contents of the box. Nico seemed to have a pretty wide taste in music, despite the metal look he was sporting. There were some old school metal in the box, but also rock, pop, country and even some classical music, as well as some foreign stuff Jason had no idea what they were. Nothing seemed newer than the late 90’s.

“The radio works if you prefer something contemporary,” Nico said. “I’m not too fond of it.”

“The radio or contemporary music?” Jason asked, putting a Led Zeppelin tape into the player.

“Bit of both. The radio only plays about twenty different songs on repeat, and at least fifteen of them are bad,” Nico said. Jason couldn’t really argue with that.

He directed Nico to his apartment, then stopped as he was heading out the door.

“Your sister hasn’t called yet, right? You wanna come up for another cup of coffee?” he asked. He could see hesitation on Nico’s face, but in the end he shrugged.

“Sure.”

As they stood in the elevator Jason realized that Nico was the first person he’d invited to his apartment. He wondered if he could consider the younger man a friend, even if most of their interactions had involved dead bodies.

“Were you expecting company or do you always keep things this clean?” Nico asked, looking around after they came in. Jason blushed.

“I had a strict upbringing. It’s a habit,” he said.

“So did I, which is why my apartment is a complete mess,” Nico said, smiling slightly. “Hazel is the same, to a lesser extent. We could never invite someone over without a 24 hour warning.”

“You two live together?” Jason asked as he put the coffee maker on. He was jealous, to be honest. He doubted he and Thalia could live together for a week without going crazy, but still. An empty apartment was a depressing thing to come home to.

“At the moment, yes,” Nico said. “Since Hazel split up with her last boyfriend. I don’t mind her around, but I suspect she’ll hook up with Frank soon.”

“Yes, I heard about his crush. You’re helping him?” Jason asked, slightly unnerved by the thought of the coroner playing matchmaker, but Nico made a face at him.

“Never. I wouldn’t get involved if someone paid me,” he said, dismayed. “But Hazel likes him, so there’s that.”

“Milk or sugar?” Jason asked as he poured the coffee, and Nico denied both of them. Jason had a feeling he would, but he poured a rich amount of both into his own beverage. They drank in silence for a while, not really knowing each other well enough to find topics easily. Inevitably the conversation turned towards their one common interest; the murders. 

“Any new developments?” Nico asked, and Jason shook his head.

“Not much. I’m afraid we’ll find a new body soon. Maybe some poor sod is being fed pomegranate seeds as we speak.”

“It’s possible,” Nico said, taking a sip of coffee and looking uncomfortable. “Are you investigating pet shops and zoo’s already?”

“Yes, after the viper bite and the birds it seemed sensible,” Jason said. “But there are hundreds of pet shops in the city, and we’re not even entirely sure what we’re looking for.”

“He may be growing his own pomegranates,” Nico said. “If he thinks eating the seeds binds his victims to the underworld, it’s unlikely he buys them at the supermarket.”

“Good point,” Jason said, nodding. “Annabeth suggested the killer might actually believe he’s Hades. What do you think?”

“I disagree,” Nico said, looking into his coffee mug. “The killings are too similar to the original Hades’. I think he’s recreating the triumphs. I think it’s a homage.”

Jason thought it over. “That’s a different way of thinking, but it seems plausible.” he said. “What do you think he’ll do next?”

“Depends on what murders he thought were best.”

“And in your personal opinion?”

Nico hesitated. “As in which one’s would give me the most nightmares as a coroner?” he asked. “Medea, probably. Or Hercules and Megara. Anything involving children.”

“Have you ever performed autopsies on children before?” Jason asked, even though it felt like a pretty personal question. Nico nodded slowly, staring into his coffee like it could tell him the answers to the universe.

“Five times,” he said hollowly. “The first one during my first week on the job. I nearly drank myself into a coma afterwards.”

“Percy said you don’t usually have a problem with gory corpses.”

“I don’t. Children are different,” Nico said angrily. “It’s wrong.”

“All murders are wrong,” Jason said. “But I know what you mean.”

The _Ducktales_ theme suddenly started playing loudly, and both of them jumped. Nico gave Jason an apologetic smile as he answered his phone. An iPhone, Jason noted. A curious choice for somebody who still drove around with a cassette tape player.

“Hey, Hazel. Where are you?” Nico said. “No, it’s fine. I’m pretty close by, actually. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. What? No, someone I work with. Okay, see you there.”

He hung up the phone. “That was Hazel,” he said, taking the last sip of his coffee. “I should get going.”

“Right,” Jason said, moving their cups to the kitchen counter. “Thanks for stopping by. And driving me home.”

Nico nodded, looking nervous, like he wasn’t sure what social conventions were required. Jason smiled.

“You’re welcome to stop by any time you like, no 24 hour warning required,” Jason said, getting a grin from Nico in return.

“Perhaps,” he said. “I’ll see you at work sooner or later. Good night.”

Jason’s apartment reassumed its usual deathly silence the moment Nico closed the door behind him. Despite the awkwardness, Nico was surprisingly good company. Still, every instinct Jason had developed as a detective was screaming that the coroner was hiding something. Something related to the murders, judging by how nervous he became whenever they discussed them. Yet he seemed to genuinely want to help, and had provided some invaluable information. 

Jason really didn’t think he was in any way involved in the murders, but _something_ was off.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason spent most of Saturday in bed, trying to catch up on hours of lost sleep. Sunday afternoon he was called into work. There had been another murder, and Jason wasn’t surprised. As he drove to the crime scene his conversation with Nico popped into his head. _Maybe some poor sod is being fed pomegranate seeds as we speak_. 

Percy and Annabeth was waiting for him outside the picturesque wooden home that was now a crime scene. They both looked shaken. 

“How bad?” Jason asked. Annabeth just shook her head, and Jason followed Percy inside, preparing himself for the worst.

“Gods, no,” he gasped as he saw the bodies. In the middle of the room lay a woman, barely recognizable as one due to the severe acid wounds on her body. However, the worst part were the children lying behind her, holding hands. Their faces were frozen in expressions of terror, and each had a dagger still buried in their chests, staining their white clothes with red blood.

“Their father found them when he came home.” Percy said quietly. “That’s their stepmom. She and the children were supposed to be visiting her parents this week. “

“Medea,” Jason said. “Have the real mother been contacted?”

“We haven’t been able to reach her. Annabeth thinks the killer have made sure she won’t be found. According to most myths, she’s supposed to be the culprit, after all.” 

“Nico thinks the killer is paying homage to the original Hades, recreating his most gruesome murders,” Jason said. 

“It doesn’t get much more gruesome than this. It’s an interesting theory,” Percy said, then sighed. “It’s times like this I’m really glad I don’t have Nico’s job. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Jason agreed. When they returned to the station after methodically investigating the crime scene Jason told them everything Nico had said Friday night. It seemed a more probable theory now. He also voiced his concern about Nico’s strange nervosity when it came to the murders.

“Nico’s got nothing to do with the murders,” Percy said, sounding certain. “But you’re right that he’s been acting strange. Maybe he knows something.”

“If the killer is really paying homage to Hades, then he should be old enough to remember the murders, possibly even related to the original killer,” Annabeth said.

“Hades didn’t have any family,” Jason said. “We checked that when we discovered the connection.”

“No family that we know of,” Percy clarified. “We’ll check again, more thoroughly this time.”

“It’s also possible we’re dealing with an obsessed fanboy. Or girl,” Annabeth said. “I wonder what will happen when he’s finished with all the best murders. Will there be a grand finale, or will he continue?”

“Either way, it’ll happen soon,” Jason said. “So far all the murders have been chronological in accordance with Hades original pattern. Medea was the second to last murder he committed.”

“So it might already be the last one,” Percy said, scratching his head. “Terrible as it was, it didn’t feel like a finale.”

“It’s just a theory, but one final murder to top all others would fit the new profile,” Annabeth said, looking through her files. “Medea was the opening act, the next one will be the end. Probably an original murder.”

“We’re running out of time,” Percy said with a frustrated sigh. “Let’s go through everything once more. What have we missed?”

Whatever it was, they didn’t find it this time either. Jason had never in his life worked so hard with so few results. Just thinking about the terrified expressions on the children’s faces kept him up at night, and he was exhausted. It didn’t help that the press was swarming them with questions while simultaneously demanding they find the murderer. Percy sent Jason alone to the coroner’s again while he and Annabeth followed up on some leads that would probably prove to be false.

Nico looked almost as dead as the corpses on his table when Jason walked in. 

“Are you okay?” Jason asked. Nico just shook his head.

“No, but I’ll live. I hate being right.” he said. “And I hate that I don’t have anything of significance to give you. This was a pretty straightforward murder. Both children died of the stab wounds through their hearts at approximately the same time. The stepmother died of the acid reaching her internal organs maybe half an hour earlier. Still no DNA or fingerprints.”

He went on to describe some of the details of the murders, as well as produce the familiar bags of pomegranate seeds, but the most important things had already been said.

“Nico, I talked to Percy yesterday,” Jason said carefully when Nico had finished talking. “We agree that you’ve been reacting slightly strange through all of this. Is there something you’re not telling us?”

“You think I had anything to do with this?” Nico asked, gritting his teeth. “You don’t even know me! You seriously think I could do something like...”

“No!” Jason interrupted hastily. “No, I don’t think that. Neither does Percy. But we do think you’re hiding something.”

“Like what?” Nico challenged, angrily looking Jason in the eyes. 

“I don’t know,” Jason said. “But if there’s the smallest chance it would help us find whoever did this, you’d tell us, right?”

Nico looked away and didn’t answer. Jason sighed deeply.

“Think about it, okay?” he said. “Thanks.”

Jason let himself out. A beautiful young woman was walking towards him as he closed the door behind him. Jason recognized her.

“You’re Nico’s sister.” he said. “Hazel, was it?”

She stopped and looked at him, surprised. “That’s right. You work with my brother?”

“In a way, yes. I’m Jason Grace.” Jason introduced himself. “Listen, I don’t think you want to go in there.”

“Dead bodies don’t bother me.” she smiled.

“These might.” Jason said, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Is it children?” she asked, understanding. “No wonder he sounded so upset on the phone. Thanks for the warning. I think I’ll just knock.”

Jason nodded, then headed back to the station. He worked overtime, and was exhausted when he finally got home. He was in the middle of eating take-out dinner when somebody knocked on his door. Curious, he got up to open it.

Nico di Angelo was standing outside, all dressed in black again. He looked extremely uncomfortable, like he’d rather be somewhere else.

“I need to talk to you,” he said, and Jason wordlessly stepped away from the door and let him in. Nico eyed the half eaten dinner on the table. “Sorry, is this a bad time?”

“It’s fine.” Jason said with a smile, putting the meal away. “Coffee?”

“No thanks, I don’t need caffeine right now,” Nico said, taking a deep breath. “You asked me what I’ve been hiding earlier. About the murders.”

“I did,” Jason said, gesturing for Nico to sit down at the other end of the table. Honestly it felt a bit too much like an interrogation, but the other alternative would have been the couch, and that seemed too casual for a discussion like this.

“Please understand,” Nico said quietly. “If I had thought it would help the investigation at all, I would have told you and Percy this a long time ago.”

Jason remained silent, waiting for Nico to continue.

“Hades was my father.”

Jason blinked. For a moment he was too stunned to say anything. “But Hayden Dimas didn’t have any children.”

“...that anyone knew of,” Nico said. “He and my mother had a secret relationship. She owned a large greenhouse, where she grew flowers and plants. Among other things, pomegranates.”

“She grew the seeds he used in his murders?” Jason asked, wide eyed.

“She didn’t know. Shortly after he was caught and executed she committed suicide.” Nico said, looking down at the table. “I was only five at the time, but my sister was old enough to understand what had happened. She didn’t tell me until just before she died, five years later. One of Hades’ victim’s brother managed to find us at the orphanage, and kidnapped us, planning to get revenge by staging a murder of his own. Bianca...”

Nico voice broke, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “Bianca told me everything while we were waiting for that man to kill us. He fed us pomegranate seeds, like our father had done to his victims. But when he finally tried to kill us he got careless, and Bianca got free. She should have run, but she tried to fight him instead. He...he killed her, but not before she had mortally wounded him as well. The police finally found me a day later. They never made the connection to Hades, and I never told them.”

Nico paused. “Any questions?”

Jason was still trying to digest everything, but years as a cop had left its marks. “How did the kidnapper find out about you?”

“He read about my mother’s suicide and made the connection,” Nico said. “A single woman with two fatherless children, growing pomegranates, killing herself shortly after Hades was executed. Not exactly a solid lead, and it took him five years to figure it out and decide to go for it.”

“Do you know if Hades had other children?” Jason asked.

“Not a clue,” Nico said, shaking his head. “He may well have. Sociopaths are supposed to be really charming, after all. My mother certainly fell for it.”

“Did you ever meet him?”

“A couple of times, but I barely remember him,” Nico said. “I don’t particularly want to, either.”

Jason was silent trying to think of something else to ask, but his head was swimming. Nico’s onyx eyes were watching him intently.

“Look,” Nico said after a while. “I only told you because I don’t enjoy being a suspect. If you want to tell Percy and the others, that’s up to you.”

Nico got up from the chair and started walking towards the door.

“Wait!” Jason said. “I’ll have to tell Percy and Annabeth, but I’ll ask that they don’t tell anybody else, okay?”

Nico blinked, then nodded slowly. “Fine.”

“Just out of curiosity, why tell me and not Percy?” Jason asked. “You’ve known him longer.”

“Too long. Since before I found out,” Nico said darkly. “You’re unrelated, so you’re easier to talk to.”

“That makes sense,” Jason said, a little disappointed for some reason, then hesitated. “Annabeth thinks the next one will be an original murder, the grand finale of the murder spree.”

“She’s probably right,” Nico nodded. “I hope you catch him. Sorry I couldn’t help.”

With that he got out the door, and Jason was left with an empty apartment and a lot of things to think about.

 

Percy and Annabeth stared at Jason in silence when he finished repeating what Nico had said.

“That...that explains a lot,” Percy finally said, his voice barely audible. “Oh, god. I never knew.”

“For a child to go through all that...” Annabeth said. “I can’t even imagine.”

“At least Nico isn’t related to these murders.” Percy said, something akin to relief flashing on his face before he frowned. “Except that it might be his brother, or sister. That’s fucked up.”

“And it doesn’t really further the investigation either,” Annabeth said. “Though I guess we could check through the records for single mothers committing suicide at that time.”

“Kind of a long shot, but we’re grasping at straws anyway,” Percy said. “Maybe something will turn up.”

As it turned out, single mothers committed suicide a lot, but there weren’t that many cases from the months surrounding Hades capture and subsequent execution. Most of them were mothers of toddlers, making it unlikely that they would find out about their parentage, even if one of them was Hades’ child. Maria di Angelo’s name stood out as the only one with two children old enough to maybe remember. Jason stared at the faded picture. Nico’s mother had been a beautiful woman, and he had inherited her dark locks and onyx eyes. They looked very much alike, except Nico's skin was a lot paler. 

Jason could understand why Nico hadn’t told anyone about this. Apart from the emotional trauma of it all, it would obviously have made it difficult for him to get work, especially in forensics. Not to mention making it hard to find friends.

Towards the end of the day, when Jason was starting to look forward to going home to sleep, Percy walked up to him, looking worried.

“Did Nico say something about disappearing when you talked to him yesterday?” Percy asked. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of him all day. The people at the morgue said he didn’t come into work today.”

“He didn’t say anything.” Jason answered, a cold feeling spreading through his stomach. “Have you tried his sister?”

“She’s not answering either.” Percy said. “Frank is looking up the number to her workplace.”

“Do you know where they live?” Jason said. “We should go check on them.”

“Agreed. We’re taking my car.”

When they finally reached the apartment and rang the doorbell, no one answered. Showing their badges to the landlord they finally got the door open, but the apartment was empty. And fairly messy, like Nico had said. Not dirty, just a lot of things laying around in places they shouldn’t be. There was no trace of either Nico or Hazel. A while later, Frank called to tell them Hazel hadn’t shown up to work that morning, either. 

“Think they’ve ran away?” Percy asked, sounding vaguely hopeful. Jason shook his head.

“I think it’s worse than that,” he said, walking over to the bookshelf and picking up a photograph, showing Nico and Hazel, standing in a garden somewhere. Hazel was out in the sunlight looking radiant, while Nico hung back in the shadows behind her. “When you look at this picture, what do you see?”

“Nico and Hazel?” Percy asked, not understanding was Jason was getting at.

“Hades and Persephone,” Jason said gravely. “It’s just a hunch, but I think our murderer may have found the perfect victims for his finale.”

All color drained from Percy’s face. “We need to find them before it's too late.”

 

They spent a few hours looking through the apartment, the stairway and the parking lot for any clues, but there was nothing to be found. The neighbors they asked hadn’t heard anything either, and nobody had seen Nico or Hazel since the evening before.

Neither Jason, Percy, Annabeth nor Frank slept that night. Frank was busy calling all hospitals for anyone resembling Nico or Hazel in case they had just been in an accident, while the rest of them frantically went through everything they had already investigated once more, searching for something they had overlooked. When morning arrived they were gathered in Percy’s office, trying to figure out what to do.

“It might be nothing, they might just have disappeared for a while,” Annabeth said. “But I doubt it. Jason’s theory is sound.”

“Which means we might be one step ahead the murderer this time,” Percy said gravely. “We need to figure out what we’ve missed.”

None of them said anything for a while, all thinking hard. Jason was worried that they might be too emotionally involved for the job. He hadn’t even known Nico that long, but he already considered him a friend. After last night, when it became clear Nico wasn’t a suspect, Jason had even started to look forward to getting to know him better. Jason frowned. If he was going to have a chance at that he better get his brain working.

“It’s strange,” Annabeth finally said. “The murderer must have picked Nico somehow, but he doesn’t go out much, does he?”

“No, he really doesn’t,” Percy agreed. “I’m lucky if I can get him to join be for coffee once a month.”

“It’s not just Nico,” Jason said. “The murderer must at least have seen him and Hazel together to make the connection.”

Percy nodded. “All the other victims were pretty public people, and he could have found everything he needed to know through the internet, but both Nico and Hazel are really old fashioned about certain things. They don’t even have facebook pages,” he said. “So you’re right, he must have physically seen them.”

“Meaning he’s been around either the morgue or their apartment, since Nico doesn’t really go anywhere else,” Annabeth concluded. “Most likely the murderer either works or lives around there.”

“We need to check any nearby pet shops, animal shelters and the like,” Percy said. “And we still have the list of employees for all such venues in the city, right? We should cross reference that with nearby addresses. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the best we’ve got right now.”

They split the shops up between them to save time, meaning Jason was working alone. It was against regulations, but they were running against the clock. He checked five shops without results, then he called Frank to see what they had found out.

“Annabeth and Percy are already working down the list of suspects living in the area,” Frank told him. “We’ve narrowed it down to people within the right age frame who owns the shops they work in. There were only three, so I’ll give you the last address.”

The suspect’s apartment was pretty close by, so Jason walked over there and rang the bell. There was no answer, despite it being evening already. A older woman walking down the stairs with a laundry basket in her arms noticed him standing there.

“If you’re looking for Mr. Brown you had better try at his shop,” she smiled. “A charming young man, but always working, that one.”

Jason thanked her, then called Frank to get the address of the shop, which was in another part of town, not too far from the apartment where they'd found Achilles and the other two.. There was a young girl just about to close up shop when Jason entered.

“Can I help you?” she asked in that tired tone people always had when someone arrived just before closing time.

“I’m looking for Mr. Brown,” Jason said, and her eyes widened as he showed her his badge. “Do you know where I can find him?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t know him that well," the girl said, sounding frightened. “Is he in trouble?”

“We just want to talk to him,” Jason said. “You haven’t noticed anything weird in the last few weeks, have you? Your employer acting strange, maybe?”

“I’ve only worked here for three weeks,” the girl said uncertainly. “And it’s only a temporary job, so I haven’t really bothered to take the time to get to know him. There’s only this week left in my contract.”

Jason could feel the hair on the back of his neck raising. That fit the time frame of the murders. It could be a coincidence, but maybe not. He called Frank as soon as he left the store.

“I need you to get me information of any other venues owned by Alexander Brown,” Jason said. “I think he might be our guy.”

“Got it,” Frank said. A while later he called back, directing Jason to a house in the outskirts of the city. 

“I’m calling Percy and Annabeth as well, and we’ll have an ambulance on stand-by, just in case you’re right,” Frank said. “Don’t do anything until backup arrives.”

“Understood,” Jason said. 

The old fashioned one-storey house was situated in a pretty rundown neighborhood. It looked dark inside. Jason parked some ways away and walked towards it. He wasn’t planning on breaking his orders, but he was worried about Nico and Hazel. If this was the right place, and the boarded up windows and the black van outside certainly hinted at it, then that meant they were inside the building, waiting to be killed. Or possibly dead already. Jason tried not to think about that. 

If it hadn't been so quiet around him, he would have missed the muffled scram that suddenly rang through the air. Jason drew his gun and hurried towards the house, his heart beating hard in his ears as he tried to determine where the sound came from. He was pretty certain that had been Nico’s voice, though he might be wrong. Still, he sent Frank a quick text to send the ambulance.

Standing still and listening intently, he could hear more screams, a female voice this time, and Jason noted they didn’t come from the house, but under it. It didn’t take him more than a minute to find the door to the storm cellar. It was closed, but in the faint space between the wood he could see light shining through. Jason bent down to listen.

“Nico!” he heard Hazel scream through the door, sounding frantic.

“Shut up! I’ll kill you as well!” another voice said, and there was no time to lose.

Jason threw the door open and jumped down, holding his gun out. “Freeze!” he ordered, his heart almost stopping at the scene in front of him. A tall, dark haired man in his thirties, presumably Alexander Brown, was holding a bloody knife and standing in front of Hazel. She was sitting on the floor, chained to the wall with her hands above her head. She was unhurt, but Nico sat beside her, also chained up and bleeding from a wound in his chest. He wasn’t moving, and might already be dead. The thought filled Jason with a deep fury, and he met Brown's eyes, wanting to kill him immediately.

Jason gritted his teeth. “Drop the weapon, get down on your knees and put your hands over your head,” he commanded. “You’re under arrest.”

For a moment Brown seemed baffled, like he couldn’t comprehend he had actually been caught. Then, in what Jason presumed was a moment of madness, he turned to run towards Jason, knife raised high and screaming in rage. Jason didn’t think twice before pulling the trigger. As the suspect fell down to the floor Jason moved to Nico’s side, assessing the damage. 

“Is he…?” Hazel asked.

“He’s still breathing, barely,” Jason said as he tried to put pressure on the wound to prevent him from bleeding out. “The ambulance will be here in a few minutes.”

Percy and Annabeth arrived what seemed like only a moment later.

“What happened? You were supposed to wait for backup!” Percy said, horrified.

“I didn’t have time. He was about to kill them,” Jason said, looking down at his blood stained hands. He wasn’t sure if Nico was breathing anymore, but he didn't dare move his hands to check. He was still bleeding, though not as much as he had been. That was a good thing, right?

“Let me loose. He had the key in his pocket,” Hazel said, clearly fighting back her tears.

“I’ll look,” Percy said shakingly, kneeling down by the body of the murderer and starting to rummage through his pockets. 

“I’ll go wait by the street to bring the medics here as soon as they arrive,” Annabeth said, running back out. 

Percy managed to find the key and free Hazel’s and Nico’s hands just before the medics finally arrived, and Jason stepped aside to let them do their work. Nico was quickly whisked away into the ambulance and off to the hospital. Hazel went with them, and Jason really wished he could have done the same. Percy seemed to agree.

“I’ll deal with the situation here,” Annabeth told them. “Go.”

She didn’t have to tell them twice. Percy and Jason quickly followed the ambulance in Jason’s car, sirens blazing. They found Hazel outside the operation room, walking back and forth and biting her nails. She looked up as they approached, and they could see she was crying.

“His heart stopped,” she said. “They managed to get it going again, but if they can’t stop the bleeding if won’t matter.”

“He’ll pull through,” Percy said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself rather than them. “He has to. There’s no way he’s going down like this.”

Jason didn’t say anything. He felt responsible. If Nico was dying it would be on him. If he had just figured things out a few minutes earlier...

“It’s not your fault,” Hazel said, looking up at him and apparently reading his mind. “That man had planned to kill us hours ago. Nico managed to stall him, or neither of us would be here by now. He...” she trailed off, sobbing violently.

“It’s okay, you can tell us later,” Jason said, trying to keep his own voice steady. “When Nico is out of danger.”

It felt like forever before one of the doctors finally came out to give them any news. By that time Frank had joined them, and had an arm around Hazel’s shoulders to steady her. Apparently they had managed to stabilize Nico, but he had lost a lot of blood and was deeply unconscious. They couldn’t give a 100 percent guarantee he would wake up, but if he did he would likely be okay.

Jason let out a deep breath of relief. It was too early to celebrate, but at least Nico’s chances seemed a lot brighter now.

The hospital only allowed Hazel to stay, so Percy and Jason went home to catch up on some lost sleep, after making Hazel promise to call if Nico woke up. They still needed her statement about the events, but that could wait until morning at least. 

 

“He was amazing,” Hazel told them the following day. They were taking her statements outside Nico’s room in the hospital, since she didn’t want to leave in case he woke up. “I was scared out of my mind, but he kept me calm the whole time.”

She took a deep breath. “When we woke up the room was empty. That...that guy didn’t show up until maybe a day later, I'm not sure,” Hazel said. “Nico and I tried several different ways to escape, but nothing worked. He kept telling me it would be okay. When the guy came to kill us it was clear he was surprised we were so calm.”

She was quiet for a while, blinking back tears before continuing. “Nico started talking to him, asking about his methods and motives and everything. Nico even told him about his father, which the guy seemed very impressed by. He was crazily obsessed with Nico's father, saying he was also Hades' son, but I don't know if that's true. My brother managed to keep the guy talking for hours, but he finally caught on in the end and realized Nico was stalling. He was going to stab us and then clean us and sew us up before displaying us somewhere. He even showed us the costumes.”

Her voice grew unsteady again. “He was going to kill me first, so Nico started criticizing his ideas, saying that the costumes looked like they were from a bad Hollywood movie and that stab wounds made no sense mythologically speaking and stuff like that. The guy argued with him for a long time before finally losing his mind and… and stabbing him. Then Jason came in.”

“Thank you, Hazel,” Percy said gently. “He’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling unconvincingly at them. She turned towards Jason. “You saved our lives, you know. Not just by finding us. If you hadn’t managed to reduce the bleeding my brother would be dead.”

“Just doing what anyone would have done,” Jason said uncomfortably. ”I hope he wakes up soon.”

Hazel nodded. “He will,” she said, though she still sounded worried.

 

About 3 am that night Jason got a call from the hospital, telling him Nico had woken up. Relief flooded through his body. Part of him wanted to rush to the hospital to see for himself, but it was nighttime and doubtful the doctors would let him see him anyway. Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure Nico would want to see him. They really weren’t that close. Not yet anyway. Jason was glad he had a chance to get to know him better. He was already looking forward to it.

He slept like a rock for the rest of the night, and through half of the following day, before going into work to get the last paperwork done. Because he had shot the murderer there was more of that than usual, but he couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it. Not after seeing Nico chained up against the wall and bleeding out through his chest.

He didn’t get a chance to go see Nico until the day after.

“Can I help you, detective?” Nico asked drily as Jason entered his room. He was sitting up on the bed, looking pale but alive. Hazel was sitting by his side, holding his hand so tight she was probably cutting off his circulation. Nico didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m off duty,” Jason said. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Oh,” Nico said, apparently surprised. “Are those _flowers?_ ”

“It’s tradition to bring flowers when visiting someone in a hospital.” Jason shrugged, setting the flowers down on Nico’s lap before settling in one of the chairs by the bed.

“Also at funerals, and I’m not dead yet,” Nico laughed slightly, then frowned. “Sorry, I think I’m a little high on pain meds right now.”

“He’s been saying some strange things all morning,” Hazel smiled as she leaned forward to kiss his forehead. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“You don’t have to,” Jason said, but she shook her head.

“I need to get something to eat, and make a few calls. I’ll be back in half an hour or so.” she said, heading out the door. 

“How are you feeling?” Jason asked, and Nico scoffed.

“Better than I should be, considering the wound,” Nico said. “It’ll hurt like hell when the meds wear off, but I’ll live. I hear that’s thanks to you.”

“I was lucky,” Jason said truthfully. “If you hadn’t managed to delay the murderer we would have been too late anyway.”

“Yeah, well. It’s not every day you find a new brother. I wanted to get to know him better.” Nico said, and Jason rolled his eyes.

“Hazel told us everything,” he said. “What you did was incredible.”

“So incredible I got stabbed.” Nico muttered. “I was ready to announce my own time of death when you came barging through the door. My knight in shining armor.”

Jason laughed slightly. “More like a worn out bullet-proof vest.” 

"Did you find his animal collection in the house? He bragged to me about it," Nico said, and Jason nodded.

"Yeah, a couple of illegal snakes, and a lot of empty bird cages," Jason said. "We sincerely hope he put down the birds after the Prometheus murder, but we've found no bones."

"He didn't tell me anything about that, sorry," Nico said tiredly. “It was you who shot him, right?”

“I had to,” Jason said heavily. 

“Did you want to?” Nico asked, looking him straight in the eye. To anybody else Jason would have said no, that criminals should be put on trial and all that, but he couldn't lie. Nico would have seen right through him.

“Yes,” Jason finally said. “You were bleeding out on the floor, and I was angry. After everything he had done, yes, I wanted to kill him. But if there had been a way to capture him while keeping everybody safe, I wouldn’t have shot him.”

Nico nodded. “I’m glad he’s dead. I’m glad it’s over.”

“Me too,” Jason agreed. “Though I’ll no doubt start investigating other homicides first thing tomorrow. Comes with the job.”

“You’re going to have to manage without me for a while,” Nico said. “And I’m sorry to say the guy who will probably replace me, Octavian, doesn’t have a strong stomach. I think he’s in the wrong line of work. He shouldn’t be cutting up anything more gory than stuffed animals.”

“Hurry up and get better then,” Jason said, laughing slightly. “Things will get boring without you anyway. I’m going to miss you at work.”

“That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I bet you’re going to ask for my hand in marriage next,” Nico said drily, and Jason actually blushed. Nico laughed when he noticed. He had a surprisingly nice laugh for someone so gloomy, though that may have been the drugs.

“I was going to ask you out for a drink first,” Jason said, smiling slightly. Nico stopped laughing and eyed Jason suspiciously.

“How high am I? It sounded like you just asked me out for a date,” Nico said, and Jason laughed.

“I did,” he confirmed, realizing that yes, he actually had. And that he’d actually meant it. He hadn't really had time to consider it before, but his interest in Nico had definitely gone beyond normal friendship for a while now. “I’ll understand if you say no, though, so no pressure.”

“I was under the impression that you were straight,” Nico said, and Jason shrugged.

“So was I. I’ve never really cared for guys before,” he said. “You seem to be the exception, or maybe I’ve just repressed it. So, will you go with me?”

Nico stared at him. “This isn’t Percy trying to set us up, is it?”

“No, he doesn’t know I’m here,” Jason said. “Is this how it usually happens?”

“No, it would be a much bigger spectacle, usually in public,” Nico said thoughtfully. “Look, why don’t you ask me again when I can be sure all my thoughts are my own.”

“You don’t seem particularly drugged, but sure. I can do that,” Jason smiled, because that wasn’t a “no”.

 

About a fortnight later, after a long day’s work trying to catch a guy who liked to collect ears, there was a knock on Jason's door. Nico was standing outside, looking as healthy as Jason had ever seen him.

“Hi,” Jason smiled happily, gesturing for Nico to come in. “I heard you’ve been released from the hospital. Sorry I haven’t had time to visit in a while.”

“It’s okay, I heard about the ear-guy.” Nico said. “A visit would have been nice though, I’ve been bored out of my mind.”

“I totally get that. I got shot a few years ago, so I know,” Jason said. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” Nico said, sitting down by the table. “And I’ve never heard anyone mention being shot so casually.”

Jason shrugged. “It was a long time ago. When will you get back to work?”

“Next week,” Nico said, and Jason raised his eyebrows.

“So soon?”

“Octavian have been calling me every day since I got out of the hospital, begging me to come back,” Nico said. “And Percy have been sending me texts about Octavian’s incompetence, so I kinda have to.”

“You shouldn’t care about what they think,” Jason said, handing Nico his coffee. Black, no sugar. “If you’re not ready to come back...”

“I was ready last week,” Nico interrupted him. “Like I said, absolutely nothing happened in the hospital, and Hazel keeps babying me at home. I’m just about to go crazy. Which is why I’m here.”

“Wait, you drove here yourself?” Jason said. “Aren’t you still on pain medication?”

“Yes, but not that much,” Nico grinned. “Are you going to arrest me?”

“No, but I’m going to scold you,” Jason said sternly. “I’m sure you’ve seen enough victims of car accidents to know better.”

“Not for a long time. They usually don’t require autopsies,” Nico shrugged. “Besides, I’m fine. I’m just as capable of driving as a cop who’s worked for thirteen hours and has his head full of murder.”

“Point taken,” Jason laughed. “I’m glad you decided to drop by. I rarely see anyone outside work these days.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Nico said dryly, taking a sip of coffee. Jason watched him in silence for a while.

“So,” Jason finally said, clearing his throat. “Have you thought about it?”

“About what?” Nico asked.

“You and me. Going out. Maybe,” Jason said nervously. It had been way too long since he’d last done this, and never with a guy. Nico looked up at him, seemingly surprised.

“Oh. I wasn’t sure that had actually happened,” Nico said.

“If you want to just be friends, that’s fine,” Jason said, slightly disappointed, though he really shouldn’t have expected anything else. Nico smiled at him from across the table.

“Who told you I was gay?” he asked, and Jason blinked.

“Nobody. I didn’t know,” Jason said. “Are you gay?”

Nico stared at him in disbelief. “You mean to tell me you asked me out without knowing my preferences? That could get you seriously injured one day.”

“So you _are_ interested in guys then,” Jason concluded. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Honestly,” he muttered. “Of all the idiots...”

“So do I have a chance?” Jason asked. 

Nico hesitated. “I don’t do hook-ups.”

“Not what I’m looking for either,” Jason said seriously. “I don't want to scare you off, but I was hoping for something long term.”

“When I get attached to someone, I get _really_ attached.” Nico said uncertainly. “You’d probably find it suffocating. Besides, with my background...”

“Look,” Jason interrupted him. “You’re not going to talk me out of this. Do you want to go out with me or not?”

“Obviously, I do,” Nico muttered. Jason smiled happily at him, and Nico rolled his eyes. “But I’m not going out anywhere until I get my stitches out. Doctor’s orders.”

“We can stay in,” Jason said. “Can I kiss you?”

“You’re one of those guys who asks permission for everything, aren’t you?”

“I’m a cop. I’ve learned having permission is generally a good idea,” Jason smiled, getting up from his chair and walking around the table to Nico. “So, can I?”

“Fine,” Nico muttered, his cheeks going red. Jason smiled as he placed one hand in Nico’s black curls and leaned forward to press their mouths together. It had been a long time since Jason kissed anyone, and the fact that he was kissing _Nico_ made the sensation even stronger. Nico seemed to feel it as well, because he opened his mouth willingly and gave a slight moan as Jason’s tongue stroked the upper part of his mouth.

When Jason finally pulled them apart, it was mostly because his back was starting to hurt from leaning in an awkward angle. Nico smiled shyly up at him, his face flustered. Jason thought he looked beautiful.

“Do you have to be anywhere tonight?” Jason asked breathlessly.

“Jason, I can’t,” Nico said, looking uncomfortable.

“It’s fine, I get it,” Jason said, trying to hide his disappointment. “We can take this slow, if you want to.”

Nico shook his head. “It’s not that. I don’t want to pull my stitches. I’m _not_ going back to the hospital any time soon.”

Jason huffed in relief. “I understand. But we don’t have to actually _do_ anything. I just want you to stay.”

“Really?” Nico asked, sounding bewildered.

“Really,” Jason grinned. “You know how you warned me about you getting too attached? I’m the same way.”

“I can live with that.” Nico said, smiling as he stood up and pulled Jason into another kiss. 

They were hardly the perfect couple, but as far as Jason was concerned, that was in their favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
